Final black bear management meeting will be held Thursday

Thursday is the last chance to comment on black bear management at a public hearing.

The fifth of five public hearings conducted by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday in Craven Community College’s Orringer Auditorium, 800 College Ct., New Bern.

Other meetings were held over the past week in McDowell, Davidson, Bladen and Martin counties.

The Craven County meeting is the final open forum for Dr. David Cobb, chief of the Commission’s Wildlife Management Division, and other agency staff to receive comment on proposed options that would change the current coastal bear hunting seasons to align with the new biological bear management units presented in 2016.

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Migratory birds: Comment soon on the state’s migratory game bird hunting seasons. Sunday is the final day for public comment.

This is the second year of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s new regulatory process that considers all migratory game bird seasons at once instead of through early and late seasons.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will choose season dates at its April 20 meeting.

To comment, go to http://bit.ly/2oaTUAO. Migratory game birds include doves, waterfowl, woodcock, rails and snipe, and the commission, in a release, requests feedback on brant.

Bass: A fleet of 91 boats had a busy day in the Piedmont Bass Classics $10,000 Spring Team Bass Trail Qualifier #3 on April 1 on Falls Lake out of the Ledge Rock access.

Walt Gulledge of Lillington and Tony Fielden of Cameron bested the field with five bass totaling 25.68 pounds. They also won the Tournament Within a Tournament for $3,210 total. Pending validation, Fielden will add $7,000 from Triton Boats Gold Contingency Program for a $10,210 day on the water, organizer Phil McCarson reported.

The Raleigh duo of David Walton and Justin Young were second with 22.82 pounds for $875.

Many of the 340 fish weighed were loaded with eggs, McCarson reported.

Veterans: The nonprofits Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing and Casting for Recovery are offering a nature and fly fishing retreat for female disabled veterans with breast cancer April 21-23 at Harman’s Luxury Cabins in West Virginia. Apply at http://bit.ly/2nL4jjA.

Turkey: North Carolina’s youth-only hunting season for male or bearded turkey ends Friday, and the statewide season runs Saturday through May 6. Learn more at http://bit.ly/2oJKsSF.